By David Nagel
It appears the penny is starting to drop for Invincible Caviar – the best performed of the off-spring of Australia’s greatest ever sprinter…the mighty mare Black Caviar.
The Peter Moody-trained Invincible Caviar took her record to three wins from five starts with a comprehensive victory in the $80,000 BenchMark-70 Handicap (1200m) on her home track at Pakenham on Saturday.
Pakenham Cup Day 2022 will be remembered for many highlights, but the performance of the daughter of I Am Invincible/Black Caviar may be the most memorable of those highlights moving forward.
Despite her impressive record, Invincible Caviar is only just beginning to learn how to be a racehorse.
The four-year-old mare settled nicely for jockey Luke Nolen, before showing a nice turn of foot to win by a length-and-three-quarter on the line from the Lindsey Smith-trained Just Johnno, with Matt Laurie’s Airclash a length further away back in third.
“I still think she’s probably a work in progress, but what I was most pleased with today was the way she settled and how she rounded it off,” said Nolen after the victory.
“She’s sort of been a bull at a gate a little bit in her races so that’s encouraging going forward.
“I would say she’s still on a learning curve (mentally) but she had a good experience here today and that will hold her in good stead going forward.”
Invincible Caviar had her first win, at her second start, at Sale in August last year, before having more than 12 months away from the track.
She returned with a strong win at Sale on 5 October this year, before finishing last when a $2.35 favourite at Moonee Valley on 11 November.
“I think she’s built off the first-up run, the second-up run was an anomaly and she’s bounced back to her best here,” Nolen explained.
“She was open to further improvement (off the Sale win) and the horse she beat (Blistering) came out and won the previous so that ties in good.
“We probably added a string to her bow (today).
“She began evenly but she snuggled up nicely underneath me and when I asked her to go she really let rip like a horse with nice quality.”
Katherine Coleman, assistant to Moody at Pakenham, was also impressed with the performance.
“It was definitely impressive,” Coleman said.
“It was really nice to see her settle there and then when she got that nice bit of clear air just to finish it off strongly.
“I thought she was quite strong through the line as well so it will be really interesting to chat to Luke (Nolen) and see what he thought.”
Coleman said the extra expanse at Pakenham really suited the mare, which could be set for a busy summer on dry tracks.
“I think that might be the key to her, she’s such a big filly as you can see in the mounting yard but I think these wider, bigger tracks are going to suit her,” Coleman said.
“It’s the right time of year for her now so hopefully we can sort something for her, we’ll just take it step by step and race by race and build her profile.”
